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Saw this, too bad it's the MWC... MAC could have hit a homerun here, especially since we lost NIU.

Amen. I would also add that was the best era for parity in college basketball. The power conferences didn’t like it and every change since has made it more difficult for mid-majors. God bless Wentz for giving us a fighting chance.

Brett McMurphy is reporting that the Detroit bowl game is being discontinued. I would expect more bowl games to follow suit. With the playoff expansion these lower tier bowls will get less and less attention. Edit: It's the 3rd bowl to be eliminated within the last year.

None of what I'm saying below is to dispute anything you've said. It's just an observation. A lot of those games were part of those November exempt tournaments. That's why I was very vocal back in November/December criticizing the changes that have made it so most of those tournaments are now segregated into fields of mid-majors or power schools. Playing a Penn State or Oklahoma State on a neutral court provided the best opportunities to pick up those P5 (I guess P6 back then) wins that mid-major resumes desperately need.

There is absolutely no basis for this whatsoever. If he didn't think OOC mattered, he wouldn't have worked to schedule any of those games. They had six OOC P5 wins over his last 5 seasons: Arkansas (15-16), South Carolina (14-15), USC (14-15), Oregon State (13-14), Penn State (12-13), Mississippi State (11-12) They also beat Florida State (07-08) and Houston (16-17) in postseason play.

I didn't say we didn't play anybody in the OOC. I said, we didn't win in the OOC, and why would we when there is a defeatist attitude from the beginning? Of all the games you listed, I think the only ones we won was one against Penn State and another versus Mississippi State. That makes it 2-22 in the games you listed, if I counted right.

If Groce and Steele stay for a bit more, and UMass can get up to a top 100 team, we will have a very nice mid major conference.

Mark it down, the lights will be too bright for Miami at "University Arena" in Kalamazoo

Again, I'm not sure he ever said non-conference schedule didn't matter. He often said they have to win in the MAC Tournament to ensure getting there because the committee didn't typically award MAC teams with at-larges, and he wasn't wrong. Look at the 06-07 team. I'm also not sure where this revisionist history comes from that his teams didn't play anyone non-conference. 16-17 - Creighton, Gonzaga 15-16 - Villanova, Arkansas 14-15 - Miami, Penn State, South Carolina 13-14 - Oregon State, South Carolina, Iowa State 12-13 - Penn State, Oklahoma State, Creighton 11-12 - Mississippi State, West Virginia, VCU 10-11 - Minnesota, Dayton, Temple 09-10 - Texas A+M, VCU 08-09 - Pittsburgh, VCU, Dayton

They seem to be good when they can slow the game down and turn it into an old school 80s, 90s style of play. They don't really have the athletes or perimeter shooters to play an up and down the court, high scoring game.

I watched UMass-Miami a few weeks ago. It was an excellent game that UMass could have won. Their big man is going to give us problems.

I do think a strong UMass would be good for the MAC. As a fan of the game, the more compelling match-ups the better. If the MAC consistently had 3 or 4 top 100 programs it would make the season feel more must see. I just saw Miami @ WMU was selected as one of the ESPNU games. Akron/Kent was the other game selected that week. I see why they picked Miami since they're ranked, but on the surface that looks like a terrible game. At the same time I guess the only other possible game they could have picked over it would have been Toledo @ Ohio, but who would want to watch that?

All the program building talk aside, relative to this game, UMass would be a very nice, relatively big name program to get a win against, even if they are in the MAC.

I don't mind those dance teams and other things you mention. I actually think its great marketing to introduce potential new fans. In fact, when @Hilltopper gave me his seats for the EMU game, my fiancé stayed out at half-time because she wanted to watch the dance team perform instead of going into the Tommy Evans Lounge. Edit: I also wasn't hinting at spending money, at least nothing material, on the half-time entertainment. There are things that can be done that cost little to nothing.

Nearly the entire point of the halftime entertainment, high five tunnel, tip off kid, national anthem singers, etc. Is to get people to buy group tickets to see their kids and friends performing. That's why we see these gigantic adult dance groups during the games against Concord in December. They don't really need to sell a lot of group tickets for the kent game. If we were to spend money on a halftime entertainer that would be taking money away from something else, like maybe fixing the seats. Was that frat boy basketball stupid, yes, but I don't blame them for having it at the kent game

Everything about his attitude and comments indicated that the non-conference schedule didn't matter. It stymied any opportunity of building community excitement towards larger crowds and program momentum that could progressively build towards larger OOC wins and maybe at-large bids in future years. How would St. Mary's or Gonzaga fare if their coaches were perpetually saying that the OOC didn't matter? Or conversely, how would their programs nosedive if they started saying this going into next season? With a losing mentality you get losing. That's what KD's team had in the OOC and the non-MAC post-season. I give KD credit for elevating the program to sustained success in the MAC, but it was his time to move on.

I don't think he ever meant non-conference didn't matter, I think it was always more of knowing the realities that face MAC schools in getting an at-large.

Solid perspective.

I think you're mistaken about what I was talking about. I'm not talking about just the flagship schools of those states. Dayton and Xavier (even before Big East) have drawn well historically. WKU and Murray State draw well in Kentucky. There is a long list of mid-majors in Indiana/Illinois area that are all well represented, particularly in the MVC. Heck, even Ball State last I saw draws fairly well compared to other MAC teams despite being irrelevant for several decades. Some regions of the country basketball is a big deal. Other parts of the country not so much. Edit: Not just at the collegiate level either. If I went to a McKinley basketball game, which has had a ton of basketball success, it will feel small time compared to those high school powerhouses in Indiana and Kentucky.

The difference is that IU and UK have won many national championships and always make deep post-season runs AND they have traditionally been poor in football. Meanwhile, an Ohio school has not won a national championship in 60+ years and Ohio State sucks up all the interest for dominant football. Cleveland State, Can't, and Ohio all garnered national attention when they made NCAAT runs. Apathy is expected when we lose every major OOC game and post-season game outside of the MAC. To Joe Akron, we are a good team in a terrible conference, and that is supported every time we play external to the MAC. KD always said that all that mattered was winning the MAC. I think he had it completely backwards. Win outside the MAC, then people will start to care.

You can love and appreciate a program while also wanting it to push itself to be better. Over the last 12 months, I believe we have seen that play out with Akron Basketball. It is a different program than it was a year ago in terms of investment in fans and the gameday experience. I mean, it wasn't that long ago that we had our starting lineup introduced in the dark. Wanting that momentum to keep going doesn't mean you don't deserve the team or coach.

This is absolutely a thing. I am not this way, but I have friends who are. Especially at the high school level.

My point about focusing on event management earlier this week might not draw that many more people on a given night, but you want them to leave thinking that they want to come back again. Growing your fan base can be done incrementally.